Artificial leg.



G. E. MARKS.

ARTIFICIAL LEG.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22, 1912.

Patented July 9, 1912.

2 SHEETS-flHf-ET 1.

G. E. MARKS.

ARTIFICIAL LEG.

APPLICATION FILED mmzz, 1912.

2 BHEETSSHEET 2.

Patented July 9, 1912.

same from time to time changes.

GEORGE E. MARK$, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,ASSIGNOIR. THE FIRM OF .A. A. MARKS, OF

NEW YORK, N. Y.

ARTIFICIAL LEG.

oaaova.

Specification of Letters I'atent.

Application filed March'22, 1912. Serial No. 685,432.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. MARKS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improve-- ments in Artificial Legs, of which the fol lowing is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in artificial legs, and consists in the novel features and structure hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

' One object of the invention is to provide a leg having a socket which admits of lateral adjustment to meet the varying conditions of the stump of the wearer, and another object of the invention is to provide an espeoially durable construction with respect to the lower leg part and foot of the socket and one capable of resisting the influence of water, the socket of my invention enabling the wearer to walk in water or wet places without the socket becoming prejudicially affected thereby.

. In carrying out my invention I provide a socket having a foot member secured thereto and an upper leather member adapted to be secured upon the leg of the wearer above the knee and connected with the socket by special side hinge parts and rear lacings, said socket being vertically bifurcated front and back and provided with leather lacers or auxiliary socket-members and lacings therefor at the front and back by which the sides of the socket may be drawn toward each other or permitted to separate according to the requirements of the stump as the The hinge parts connecting the sides of the bifurcated socket with the upper leg member constitute side knee joints which are of special construction admitting of the lateral adjustment of the sides of the socket, each of said parts comprising two hinges arranged at right angles to each other and permitting movement sldewise as well as front and back. Sockets of artificial legs have heretofore been adjustable from front to back but this character of adjustment is objectionable since it results in undue pressure on the tibia and popliteal area, with the resultant consequences.

The foot member of the leg comprises a core, a rubber foot inclosing said core and extending above the oint between the same and the socket-member of the leg and means securing the said core to said socket-member and comprising, among other features, a metal sheath at the back and sides permanently riveted to the socket of the leg and said core and preferably being of alumi- Patented July 9,- 1912..

num, duralumin, copper or other material 7 not susceptible to the corroding influence of moisture.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of an artificial leg constructed in accordance with and embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in central vertical section, of the same; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the same'; Fig. 4 is an elevation of a detached portion of the side of the socket, with the covering leather removed to more fully disclose the hinge -member secured thereto; Fig. 5 is a vertical section through the upper portion of the socket on the dotted line 55 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through the socket on the dotted line 66 of Fig. l.

In the drawings, 10 designates the socket having a footinember 11 and connected by side hinge-members with an upper leather securing member 12, said hinge-members being at the knee-joint and said member 12 being adapted to be secured by lacing upon the leg above the knee.

The socket 10 may be constructed of wood, aluminum or other suitable material and it is bifurcated front and back from its upper -end downwardly to within a reasonable dis- .tance from the foot, whereby the upper portion of said socket becomes comprised of two side-portions 13,14 adapted to be drawn laterally toward or allowed to recede from each other in accordance with the. adjustment desired in adapting the socket tot-he,

stump it is to receive. The socket 10 above the foot member 11 will preferably be in one u integral piece .of material, 'the front and back slots 15 therein and the thickness of the walls of the socket being proportioned to allow suflicient resilience in the sides of the socket to permit ofv thelateral adjustmlelnt of the same toward and from each 0t er.

The socket is rovided with a soft leather lining 16 of tu ular formation which extends upwardly over the upper edges of the socket and is not of unusual character.

Upon the upper side section of the socket are secured strong leather lacers or auxiliary socket-members 17, 18 having along their vertical edges, which are adjacent to the outer edges of the slots 15, means by which said members may be drawn toward each other, front and back,'to effect the properlateral adjustment of the sides of the socket, the means shown for drawing the members toward or permitting them to recede from each other being leather lacings l9 threaded through eyelets in the adjacent edges of said members. -The socket-members 17, 18 are rigid with the socket 10, but since they are separated front and back in line with the vertical slots 15 in the sockets, said socketmembers may be readily utilized as convenient means for effecting the correct lateral adjustment and set ofthe sides 13, 14. The members 17 18 are secured to the socket 10 by means of rivets 20.

The upper leather member 12 is adapted to pass around the leg above the knee and be firmly secured by means of a lacing 21 of usual character. The member 12 is flexibly connected with the back of the socket by means of narrow straps or lacings 22,

some of which connect with the back of the side portion 13 and others with the back of the side portion 14 of said socket, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

The sides of the socket are connected with the sides of the securing member 12 by hinge-parts comprising, at each sideof the leg, a lower bar 23 secured to the socket (Fig. 4), an upper bar 24 secured to the member 12 and an intermediate bar 25 which is bifurcated from front to back at .bar 25 or a lateral hinged motion of the bar 23 during the lateral adjustment of the socket. The screw-pintles '26 constitute the axes of motion at the knee-joint during the use of the leg, and the presence of the hinges connecting the bars 25 with the bars 23 below said pintles 26 and at right angles thereto, enables the sides of the socket to bedrawn closer together or permitted to Y expand'outwardly in a: direction from each other without'the centers of motion represented by the pintles 26 being distorted or-thrown out of their proper axis, The

hinge-members represented by the bars 23,

24, 25 correspond with each other, and the bars 23 for the greater portion of their length are concealed by the leather socketmembers 17, 18, while the bars'241are con-.

cealed throughout their upper portions by leather coverlngs 29 secured to the opposite sides of the member 12 bysewing or otherwise.

The foot-member 11 comprises a core 30 and a rubber or like covering 31, and said core is secured to the lower end of the socket 10 by dowel pins or the like 32, and especially by means of a metal sheath 33, which extends across the joint between the socket and core and inc'loses a portion of the back and sides of said socket and core, said sheath being riveted to the socket and core and serving very greatly to strengthen the connection between said parts and ren-.

der it possible for-the wearer of the leg to 'walk in wet places without prejudicially afiecting the leg. I regard the addition of the metal sheath 33 as of considerable importance in respect to the durability and desirability of the leg. The sheath 33 will be of durable character and may be made of aluminum, duralumin, copper. or

other metal not readily susceptible to the corroding influence of moisture.

I have sought in the production of the leg as a whole to provide a leg possessing great durability throughout'and one adapted to be adjusted to suit the varying conditions of stumps and legs, one object being to provide a socket which may be made comfortable to the wearer under the varying changes that may take place in his stump. Stumps that are large and flabby are likely to change in size when put under pressure, as they are when wearing artificial limbs. There are also stumps of older amputations that change from time to time. One of the especially desirable features of my invention' is that I provide for lateral adjustment of the sides of the socket, instead of reducing the socket from front to back,

whereby in the adjustment and use of my socket there is an absence of increased pres- ,sure on the shinbone and on the blood vesjustment, an upper member to be securedon the leg of thewearer above the knee, and hlnge-members connecting said. socket and upper member and compr1sing,"'at each side of the leg, two hingesv at right angles to each other, one being transverse on the axis of motion of the leg during the use thereof and the other extending from front to back to admit of the lateral adjustment of the sides of the socket.

2. An artificial leg comprising a socketmember to receive the stump, a foot-member comprising a core covered with rubber, and means securing said core to said socketmember comprising, with other securing features, a metal sheath inclosing and secured to the back and sides of theadjacent 10 I portions of said socket-member and core.-

Sign d at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 20th day of March A. D. 1912.

I GEORGE E. MARKS. Witnesses:

ARTHUR MARION, CHAS. C. GILL. 

